Part 7: Environment and Development
Nov 17 (M) - Civil Conflict III: The Sahel
- Describe the “ Eden myth,” how it shaped colonial policy in East and Southern Africa, and the results
- Describe the "classic theory" of savannazation, identifying what the "natural" landscape is supposed to be, what forest islands represent, why burning is bad, and what should occur once burning stops
- Explain how fires are actually used as a management tool, explaining several reasons why people burn, how they manage the burning regime, and why
- Explain why the "classic" solution to savannazation, in fact, exacerbates the problem
- Explain how farming and grazing can actually favor forest growth in savannas
- Explain why the “classic” savannazation narrative prevailed, even after there was clear evidence to the contrary
- Describe and map the environmental, ethnic, livelihood, and religious “contours” within Sudan, and clarify where Darfur lies within this continuum
- Describe four different types of environment-conflict linkages occurring in Sudan, and identify other examples of each type occurring in Africa
- Focusing on the farmer/herder conflict, describe how the two livelihood systems interrelate, and how they historically resolved their conflicts
- Describe forces of change that turned that cooperation into conflict, speaking to the environment, demography, livelihood systems, and national-level politics
- Describe how the Tuareg and Hausa are preempting their potential conflict
- Explain what the Darfur and Tuareg/Hausa cases contribute to debate over whether food production can keep up with population growth in Africa
Nov 19 (W) - Parks and Integrated Conservation/Development
- Identify the direct threat to Mountain Gorillas survival, and the three forces underlying that problem
- Explain 3-4 reasons why poaching accelerated in the 1970’s-80’s
- Describe the debate on how to manage recovering megafauna, providing 2-3 arguments for each side
- Using the Zambia case as an example, describe two ways in which Integrated Conservation and Development Programs try to create win-win environment-development linkages